Coast Guard MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter file photo
PORTSMOUTH, Va. — The Coast Guard and other agencies are searching for a missing man southeast of Quinby Saturday.
Watchstanders in the Coast Guard Sector Hampton Roads Command Center in Portsmouth received notification at about 2:40 p.m. Friday that 36-year-old Will Judge of Baltimore, Maryland, last seen camping on Parramore Island near Quinby Inlet, was missing. He was last seen about midnight Thursday by two fellow campers, after the three used two kayaks to get to the island.
The Coast Guard immediately issued an urgent marine information broadcast. An MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter crew from Coast Guard Air Station Elizabeth City, North Carolina, launched and searched along with a 24-foot Special Purpose Craft-Shallow Water crew and 45-foot Response Boat-Medium crew from Coast Guard Station Wachapreague, and a 47-foot Motor Lifeboat crew from Coast Guard Station Chincoteague.
Virginia Marine Police searched with air and boat crews, and Nature Conservatory crews searched on ATVs. A Navy helicopter crew from Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron 28 and the Coast Guard Cutter Sea Horse also joined the search.
A Coast Guard MH-65 Dolphin helicopter crew from Coast Guard Air Station Atlantic City, New Jersey, along with more Coast Guard, Virginia Marine Resources Commission, Accomack County, and other crews are searching Saturday.
Both kayaks the men used to get to the island are accounted for.
“The Coast Guard and our partner agencies searched through the night and are searching again today,” said Capt. Richard Wester, commander, Sector Hampton Roads. “Our thoughts go out to the friends and family of Mr. Judge during this difficult time.”
